Fadil Al-Barrak. When Barzan Takriti was about to be hanged, he claimed his innocence and blamed Fadil Al-Barrak. Fadil Al-Barrak should be studied: he introduced new techniques to the mode of oppression and surveillance in Iraq. He was the "scholar" (with a PhD in social science) who put "science" in the service of tyranny. Does anybody know whether this was the first experience of an "academic" heading the intelligence apparatus in an Arab country? This method became replicated in other Arab countries. It does not make oppression more dilute: in fact, it may make it more effective. Barrak has a book to his name which I have a copy of: about Iranian and Jewish schools in Iraq. It is a conspiratorial book with footnotes but he has access to state police files for "documentation." I remember when Hanna Batatu went to Iraq in the 1980s for the first time since Saddam came to power, he met with somebody who told him that he has read his (brilliant) book on Iraq. Batatu was surprised because he knew that the book was banned, and he was an "undesirable" after the book was published. So he asked the person how he was able to read his book in Iraq. And the person said that he borrowed the copy of Fadil Al-Barrak. Barrak was later executed by the regime.